Zappers (Electronic Voting System)

WHAT ARE ZAPPERS?

Zapper handset and USB receiver Zappers are small handsets (as used in the TV programme “Who wants to be a Millionaire”) which enable students to give their answer to questions displayed using PowerPoint. The results are instantly available as a graph for the lecturer and students to see and discuss. The data can be exported and saved using convenient Excel report formats.

Hundreds of handsets can communicate with a single USB receiver. The handsets have a long range, do not need line-of-sight and have proved very reliable and easy to use in lectures.

The system that we have are the TurningPoint RF handsets from www.turningtechnologies.co.uk

Used effectively, this technology has been shown to improve interaction, attendance, enjoyment and outcome of classroom teaching (Duncan 2005). LATEU is gathering case studies of good practice within the University.

HOW TO TRY OUT ZAPPERS

LATEU has 6 receivers and over 200 handsets that tutors can borrow and try out. Allocation of handsets will be done on a first-come first-served basis. Training and advice is also available to help you get started. The intention of this service is to enable schools to pilot the use of zappers and then, if they wish to use them regularly, purchase their own system.

There are obvious advantages of all schools using the same system - for example the software is now installed on all Common Learning Space PCs used for teaching and extra handsets can be borrowed from LATEU if required for the occasional large event.

If you would like to borrow our handsets you must send us a completed Zappers request form at least 1 week beforehand. We recommend that you contact us first by phone or email to check that they are available on the date(s) you require - we will then make a provisional booking.

There is no charge for use of the handsets, but individuals will need to collect and return the equipment from LATEU and schools will be invoiced for any lost handsets or receivers (£30 per handset & £200 per receiver). For this reason, we need a charge code and the signature of your Head of School, Deputy Head of School or School Manager. Each school only needs to complete the Zappers Authorisation form once, then any tutor in that school can borrow zappers.

In addition we ask anyone using the handsets to conduct some kind of evaluation of their use (e.g. at least ask the students if they think the use of them has helped their learning during the session) and share any evaluation information with us.

TRAINING AND ADVICE

Training in the use of the Zappers is available from LATEU through events, special sessions for Schools or individual deskside coaching. Please contact LATEU (LATEU@soton.ac.uk) if you would like to arrange a School training session or request deskside coaching.

There are some self-study resources to help you learn to use zappers:

Using Zappers in a Common Learning Space - this PowerPoint takes you through the whole process and includes advice on dealing with non-functional handsets. October 2010: this has been updated for Windows 7 and Office 2010.
Creating questions using Turning Point - this 8-minute video describes the range of question types and shows you how to create and test them.
Analysis of the data from a Zapper session - this 5-minute video describes how to save the data from a session and access it later as a user-friendly Excel spreadsheet.
Using the Turning Point Showbar - this 7-minute video describes how the showbar can be used to manage questions during a presentation and includes useful techniques such as peer instruction and data slicing.
Using the Participant Monitor - this 4-minute video describes how to review the performance of the whole group and individual students during a lecture.
Confidence Levels - this 5-minute video describes how you can assess how confident your students were with their answer choices so you can adapt your teaching appropriately.
Using Participant Lists - this 11-minute video shows you how to create a participant list that will enable you to record the scores of individual students as they answer a series of questions in a Tuning Point presentation. It shows you how those students can register their handsets in-class, so that you can distribute the handsets quickly at the start of the session.
Adding equations to Turning Point quizzes - some advice about how to include math expressions in questions.
How to fix problems caused by incompatibilities between Turning Point versions - voting slides created in previous versions may require fixing when used on PCs with the latest version.
Instructions for students - this PowerPoint shows students how to vote and how to check their zapper is working. You can use it as a stand-alone presentation or copy the slides to your own presentation as required.
How to fix zappers - if they randomly press the wrong combination of buttons (and they do) students can inadvertently stop their handsets working. This PowerPoint shows the 10-second procedure to get them working again.
Evaluation Template - this PowerPoint file has all of the standard 'end of module' evaluation questions, except the ones that require written answers and plus a few that are only applicable to students on placement. You can download this and edit as required.
Some online tutorials are available at www.turningtechnologies.co.uk

David Read from Chemistry has produced a very useful VODCAST that tells you more about Zappers and why you should use them.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Please see our list of FAQs and their answers.

INSTALLING THE TurningPoint SOFTWARE

Note that the software is installed on all Common Learning Space PCs, so all you need to do is log in, plug in the USB receiver, distribute the handsets to the students, start TurningPoint, open your PowerPoint presentation and go. See this guide for details.

You will need to install the TurningPoint on your office PC so that you can prepare your PowerPoint presentation or add question slides to an existing presentation. Most academic staff have a Windows computer managed by iSolutions. You will need to contact ServiceLine (x25656) and ask them to add your computer name (e.g. UOS-4056) to the TurningPoint list. The software will be installed the next time you restart your computer.

You can install the software on other Windows computers by downloading it from the iSolutions Software library. You will need to log in and then choose TurningPoint 2008 from the list of Applications. Click the blue 'i' icon on the download page for installation instructions.

If you have an Apple Macintosh, you can either register at the TurningPoint website and download the software or you can borrow a CD from LATEU. Note that the software does NOT work with Mac Office 2008.

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES

Duncan, D. (2005) Clickers in the Classroom, Pearson Education

Vibrant Student Voices: exploring effects of the use of clickers in large college courses
An excellent paper by Angel Hoekstra in Learning, Media and Technology 33:4 which clearly explains how clickers (zappers) can be used to good effect in large lectures.

Eric Mazur : From Questions to Concepts: Interactive Teaching in Physics
This YouTube videoclip shows interactive lecturing at Harvard that uses zappers to promote the understanding of comments through questions and discussion.

Exploring technology based continuous assessment in Mathematics and its applications
A project that explores the use of Audience Response Systems to teach maths, stats and operational research. Includes resources and a comprehensive set of references.

Use of Personal Response Systems (Zappers) Loaned by LATEU in 2008: a report that includes feedback from tutors who borrowed our systems.

Clickers in Practice: advice from Ohio State University, including some great teaching ideas for specific disciplines.

ZAPPER SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

LATEU coordinates a special interest group for University zapper users.

Resources & Links